August 31, 2008

I couldn't believe how tough of a ticket the GSU game was on game day. My mom accidentally gave away my dad's tickets to the game earlier in the week...grounds for divorce if you ask me. So I spent some time trying to scalp a ticket on Saturday for the old man.

(Image: Even Churchill needed two)

About 3 hours before the game the scalpers wanted $75-80 which seemed high for on site scalping for a Div I-AA game. So we waited. About 1 hour before the game, we started our march towards the stadium. It seemed that the price was rising with every step.

As we approached the bridge, the prices had risen to $100, $120 and $150...that was IF you could find a scalper with tickets to sell. When we got to the bridge, I saw more people with fingers in the air and no tickets than any time since probably the 1993 Auburn game. That game saw about 20,000 Auburn fans show up in Athens to watch their undefeated and untelevised Tigers. That was the toughest ticket I had ever seen.

So we kept moving. We made it all the way to the graduate student parking lots behind the Baptist Student Union with prices consistently quoted at $120-150 when Dawgnoxious calls us with a single for $35. We can't believe our luck.

Turns out...it's a student ticket. lol. Kind of tough to sneak in a 63 year old, bald guy on a student ticket. Luckily my brother passed for student, and we made it in. All of which makes Dawgnoxious the player of the game as far as dad is concerned.

I couldn't even find a student ticket for under $100 midway through the 1st quarter. I finally gave up and went downtown to watch it, but couldn't get into the few bars that had it. GA Theater had a line around the building.

Eventually I found a bar that was showing the espn 360 webcast. I watched it there until espn decided that Northwestern vs. Syracuse would be more entertaining.

There was some correspondence on one blog or another going on a week or two before the game warning about the exact situation you encountered. More demand than supply due to the fact that a ton of GSU fans would be coming to town without tickets...and, even from a UGA fans perspective, more were obviously willing to pay a premium due to our ranking, even though it was an FCS opponent.

I, like many other transfer juniors and sophomores, had a hard time coming up with a ticket within a weeks time. I ended up getting one for 35 and counted myself lucky having secured it early in the week saving myself some considerable anxiety. Unfortunately, however, this game turned out to be about as unexciting as it comes and the highlight of the game was Uga VII. Hopefully this will be the most expensive ticket I have to buy all year though.

I'd love to get some thoughts on the alumni view about student tickets. As you may or may not know, the student ticket package was split for many of the students. Having transferred here last year and taking somewhat of a light load, I was pretty much expecting to get the split again. As more and more of my friends with 30 hours and above kept getting split, my indignation rose. I understand the Athletic association's pursuit of the all mighty dollar, but this is NOT a professional team. It is made up of a bunch of kids who I sit next to in the dining hall every day. Alumni NEVER had to split their ticket packages when they were at Georgia. And now you can honestly say that ~60k seats aren't enough to turn a profit for the third richest athletic association in the entire country? I don't know if there is a situation that will make everyone happy or if I will even see a resolution to this situation in my remaining time at this awesome university. But in my opinion every freshman who works their ass off to even get into UGA now a days deserves to see their dawgs go out and represent them on the field. /rant

ryan - The UGA Athletic Association has set aside 18,000 (I think) tickets for students. This number has been the same for a long time (at least since the 600 level was added, maybe longer). The difference is that now, more than 18k students want them. In order to be fair, they split some tickets so that more than 18k students can see games at the student price. While it sucks for the newer students, I think it's better than the shaft that 1st years students would get if they didn't split anything.

The price you pay for getting to see the greatest extended run in UGA history is a tougher ticket.

In other words...the ONLY reason you have a split ticket now is because the team is good. That's it and that's all.

Trust me....it's much more fun to scalp and fight to get tickets to a good game than to walk right into the stadium to watch us get our brains beat in by Tennessee, Florida, Alabama and Tech. Hell, we lost to Southern Miss, Ole Miss and Vandy at home when I was in school.

I agree it was a tough ticket. I went with my brothers friends (who are seniors) and I took one of them down to Sanford/Cedar to find a ticket. I go to a different school, so I was hoping to find a non-student ticket. Every scalper at that street corner was between $100 and $150 maybe an hour before the game. My brother's friend said "HELL NO! NOT FOR A SOUTHERN GAME. MAYBE FOR A FLORIDA GAME." I still managed to find one for $40, but it was not easy.

1993 Auburn is the only game that I have ever paid more than face value to get into Sanford Stadium. In fact I have only paid more than face three times ever...93 Auburn, 04 Auburn, and 05 Sugar Bowl. We lost all 3 times.

Ryan,Every time there is a student ticket for sale (and there were a lot of them), it kills the argument that all students should be able to get tickets - because currently there are students who are getting tickets only to sell them.While I would like every true student fan to be able to go to the game, I'd also like every fan who has been a fan and donated money for years to go to the game. Every thing that you do as a student to "earn" the right to see the Dawgs play we also did when we were in school + we've gone on to continue to support our alma mater afterward.Now, if I were in your situation, I would also be upset - but the way to go about it is to get the SGA to start a campaign that would utilize Student IDs (in addition to tickets)as entry into the game (with actual enforcement that the IDs match the person) to cut down on the number of students buying tickets only to try to sell them for profit. Those are the people you should be mad at for causing the increase in student ticket demand and forcing split packages.

Went to the game... I am two years removed from my tenure at UGA, but still have the student ID, and it passes... That being said, I refused to pay $100 for a student ticket. Never has this happened to me for a UGA game, so I was really caught off guard. I don't expect the next game to be like that. I think the real situation was the massive amount of GSU students/fans who came up without tickets. They can pass for students, and get pass-back ID's and thus the market was bare. I really hope this is the case at least.

Haha, my experience exactly. I'll be glad to pay $100 for a Bama, AU, LSU, GT, UT or big OOC game, but Southern? Seriously? I'm hoping more of the inflation is a product of lack of television and it being the opening week as opposed to our hype for the season. That or I need to figure out a way to pinch some pennies this year

sold mine for face value on the bridge 30 min before kickoff....being GA Southern I didnt even ask for the price figuring face would be fair. Oc course, with donation I really need to get more than face. Bet the TN or AL tickets will be much higher.

My understanding is that it already is a requirement to use a student i.d. to get in to Sanford with a student ticket, at least that is what all the students are told. Did you have an i.d. that sort of matched your friend or did they just look at the ticket and let you in w/o an i.d.? The way the mandatory student i.d. rules create two different markets for tickets, with different rules, and different demand for different games is very interesting to me, and I think would make for a good economics question. Cameron Roberts

What was so funny to me is my old roommate could not find a ticket and all we had bites for were tickets over $100. He got "lucky" about 45 minutes before kickoff and got one for $75....and then not five minutes later I ran into an ex-GF and she GAVE me an extra ticket.

I went to UGA from 2000-2007 and that was the craziest I had ever seen the ticket prices. I had never had a problem getting extra alum or student tix....and this makes me worried for future games....

The student ticket problem could be solved by selling the tickets to students for what alumni pay face for them, around the 35-40 dollar per game range. Yes, it's expensive, but it would almost completely eliminate people buying them for eight dollars and reselling them for ten times the face value. As a current student, i'd say around 600-1000 tickets are bought simply to be resold to freshmen who didn't get them. Also, consider the fact that members of the band are still getting tickets. That should end, as they also all sell them for ridiculous profit.

we are "required" to show our student ID when we have a student ticket but I know that the Family Gate at the back of the stadium never checks students for IDs. I am sure I am not the only one who knows about that.

Joel/Ryan

I agree that the students who buy the tickets just to sell them for profit really hurts our argument as students. But on the other hand the school could do A LOT better job of regulating it. Members of the Red Coats and student athletes can buy tickets even though they get into the game for free anyway. LSU changed the rule this year so those people can no longer buy tickets. Also I think that putting a student's season tickets on their ID will help with the problem because you aren't going to give some random person your ID to use at the game. That would allow you to give your ID to people you trust if you can't make it to the game, thus cutting down on ticket scalping. I have friends at Auburn and they have their ticket info placed on their ID's and they say ticket scalping is not nearly as big of a problem there.

The Redcoats were not given tickets this year by the Athletic Association.I know this because I usually get at least two tickets to games each other from my friend who is in Redcoats. I got none this year, and I'd gladly sit in the 600 level if I had got them because that's where they're at lol

I'm not sure about the band not getting tickets, because a friend of mine who is in his 3rd year in the band got tickets. I believe he gave them to his girlfriend, who did not get all the games.

I do agree with the tickets being on our student id's would cut down on scalping. However, a friend of mine that is in grad school here at UGA went to Auburn for his undergrad. He said you would be surprised at the number of id's that are sold to other people so they can use the student tickets on them.

I love everyone that complains every single year about the price of tickets for one game or another... I have season tickets and when you factor in the yearly donation or "seat license" that I have to pay every year in Feb (in addition to the face value of the tickets) I pay close to $100 for EVERY game- including the southern's, central Mich's, and Vandy's. While it may suck to hump it through campus looking for tickets every game, you're still paying less than all of us.

What I meant to say was that the Athletic Association didn't give the Redcoats any tickets for the game or two where they can invite family and friends to come to the game and watch them. And yeah, I'm pretty sure Redcoat members could get tickets like any other student and give them to someone else, that makes sense.

I agree with Mr. Anonymous at 6:01. The best thing that the AA can do with student tickets is to raise the price in accordance with demand. During the '03 and '04 seasons I was out of school and bought student tickets from a girl that I worked with who had them and used my old ID to get in. Yes, ticket scalping is capitalism at it's best folks. If you're looking on game day the best thing to do is to set a limit before hand and resign yourself to finding a nice air conditioned bar downtown or a tailgate spot with a dish if you can't find something in your range. Also, to Ryan-consider yourself lucky to have a ticket package. I transferred to UGA in 2000 and was completely shut out of student tickets via a lottery. The system now is superior and hopefully a reasonable solution to everyone's problems can be found.

I just completely disagree with Ryan & Co. on this one. I'm a student, and I'm in my 6th year here (grad school, not Van Wilder). I get tickets, so I'm certain people will think that's why I feel how I do.

I don't want there to be any more student tickets. I saw one commenter say that 600-1000 student tickets are bought to be sold...bulls#it. If that number isn't 5000, I'm scarier than Reshad Jones.

The AA is out to make money, but they aren't gouging students to line their pockets. The cutoff this year for donors was 5 figures. You want to take 15k more seats out of there? We would have the most well-dressed crowd in the country and the nicest cars in the parking lot, but we'd have a 65% full stadium after the third quarter of half the games and old men telling us to sit down when we just hit a pass for 30 yards.

No thanks. Earn your keep at UGA. You just got here and you already want all the benefits of "earning" it? There are a ridiculous number of kids who didn't deserve to get here but just go to Gainesville and transfer in SOLELY for football tickets. I had to sit at home for a couple of years for Florida games, and it sucked, but I stuck around and now I don't have that problem. You won't either if you're here long enough. The system isn't perfect, but it's the best we can do.

It's much better this way than having 50% more away fans and non-students in the student section because not only upperclassmen but freshman could buy and bully.

I live in Lexington, KY, and every 2 years I go to the game here. 4 years ago and 2 years ago I was able to get tickets for about $35 each. In the past I bought them off ebay, but this year ebay seems to have nothing. So I checked StubHub and they are like $130.

Does anyone have any advice for a way to get tickets to the Kentucky game for a more reasonable price?

For student tickets, I actually like the LSU model. The more contests in other sports you go to during the course of the year (women's soccer, baseball, track, etc.) the higher your standing to get season tickets in football.

Those 5000 (I think that number is a bit high, but its better than 600-1000) would really have to invest a lot of time and effort to get tickets in that scenario.

Let me start off this comment by saying that I am a lifelong DIE HARD Dawg. I have never ever loved another team more than I have loved UGA. However, this weekend was the first time I pulled against them. My brother plays for GSU and gets significant playing time, so as the saying goes, blood is thicker than water. I went to the game knowing that UGA was going to win. I just hoped that GSU didn't embarrass themselves, and even though it was 38-0 at one point, I really don't feel like they did. If they had a decent kicker and could have punched it in from the 1 yd line, at one point it would have been a 17-10 game I believe. But GSU played well and my brother played well (although I'm obviously biased).

The point I want to make however is that I have never been more embarrassed to be a Dawg fan in my life. I know there are plenty of obnoxious Dawg fans out there (as with every other college football team), however, you see it differently when you are on the other side. Since I was pulling hard for my brother, of course, I was wearing blue and gold and sitting in the visitor's section. It was embarrassing to see how many UGA fans walked by flipping us off, yelling obscenities, and laughing at the GSU section. I wouldn't have minded so much if I wasn't with my grandparents who were just proud to see their grandson playing football in front of 92,000+ in Sanford Stadium. It just really left a sour taste in my mouth.

I'd understand if you were berating Gators or Tigers or Vols, I do the same thing, however no GSU players were over celebrating when they got a first down or talking smack to the Dawgs. They knew there was virtually no chance to win that game yet I thought they put up a decent fight.

To their credit, my brother told me that the UGA players were a class act. Only one player (a freshman) got in his face and several of them actually complimented the GSU players on playing so hard and not giving up. I think this is a reflection on Coach Richt and the attitude he brings with him. He took his foot off the pedal and allowed GSU to put some points on the board so it didn't look so bad. He makes me proud to be a Dawg, if only some of the fans could follow his lead.

please tell me what you think. By no means was that directed at the Entire Dawg Nation. I know there are a few bad apples in every bushel. And don't get me wrong, I will yell and talk smack to every UF fan I know (as I live in FL), but when we play another 1-AA team next year and the next, I won't poke fun at them nor will I laugh at them. They are out there obviously out-classed in every facet giving their all, they deserve respect for the effort and having the balls to take on our beloved Dawgs (and yes I know they get paid good money just to show up, but no team wants to get embarrassed on the field either)

I have several ticket sites linked over on the right side of the page. Scroll down to the "other ticket partners" area.

I personally make more $$ per transaction off of stubhub because of the nature of the relationship. The other vendors all know this, but they all advertise because of google rankings and because of link referrals.

embarrassed Dawg, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess the average age of the fans you're describing.....18-24I highly doubt any mature Dawg fan was amongst those harassing the GSU fans. I spoke with a few after the game while we were resting to catch our breath from the heat walking out of Sanford and personally myself complimented GSU on playing hard til the end. GSU is ranked, what, 15th in the FCS? GSU has a great team and will do well in their division. Good luck to your brother and the Eagles!

Leave it to the Dawg-ugh nation to be a class-less act. They do not care if there are children or grandparents around when they cast their obnoxious obscenities with their foul mouths toward ANY fans of the visiting team. I know, I have observed it with children by my side first hand. UGA=Smutt University

Students make the school NOW, so I believe that EVERY student should have the opportunity to go to all the home games. I think that if they offered full home ticket packages to all the students, it would completely eliminate the scalping ripoff element. Plus, since would-be scalpers now have no reason to buy tickets, the full 33,000 student ticket allotment would not be sold. The AA could then turn around and sell the left overs to alum on a waiting list. I think you'd still end up with the same amounts of people buying the tickets as there is currently, so it's essentially a win-win situation for all. Who would buy a ticket knowing that they would not have someone to sell it to?

I definitely think that in addition to this plan they should put the tickets on the ids.

I think that if they raised the price of the tickets to meet the demand there would be mayhem. Students have to pay upfront for all the tickets they get. How would some of the less fortunate kids pay for that? It's hard already to front the money given the small time frame the tickets are on sale. What if you're between paychecks or etc. Not all students have access to daddy's credit card. Some of those kids realize that which is why they front the money now so they can scalp them to this poor kids later in the season because they only afford one game at a time. Which brings me full circle on my original point!

But what a difference a week can make! Before the CMU game the Tate plaza and the lower gate was awash in people selling tickets. I heard one basically begging to sell his ticket for $10. I finally gave away 3 lower level seats to the ticket taker (with the understanding that she would give them to some one who could use them) because I didn't want to sell to a scalper (ticket karma) and couldn't find a Dawg fan that would make me any offer at all.